Self cleaning spaceband for type casting machines



April 7, 1964 c. D. SMITH ETAL 3,127,983

SELF CLEANING SPACEBAND FOR TYPE CASTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 31, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG 9 FlG.. 8

l CARL J. ANDERSON CHARLES D. SMITH INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY Ap 1964 c. D. SMITH ETAL 3,127,933

SELF CLEANING SPACE-BAND FOR TYPE CASTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 31, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 7 30A; 22 r o ze 26 as 30 (26 22 fi T FIG 4 CARL J. ANDERSON CHARLES D. SMITH INVENTORS.

B-Y MToRA/EY United States Patent ()7 3,127,983 SELF CLEANING SPACEBAND FUR TYPE CASTING MACHINES Charles D. Smith, 604 Ford Ava, Bremerton, Wash, and Carl J. Anderson, Olalla, Wash.; said Anderson assignor to said Smith Filed Oct. 31, 1961, Ser. No. 148,986 5 Claims. (Cl. 1%9-67) This present invention relates to the general field of type setting machines of the type which cast lines of type on slugs and is commonly known as the hot metal process, rather than casting individual type such as is used for hand composition. Type slugs are cast from matrixes punched with the various characters needed for type composition. More specifically, this invention relates to the spacebands which are used in type casting machines to produce spacing between word groups and to provide an adjustable means for spreading out each matrix line to the desired length before casting takes place and this invention is particularly directed to the design and production of spacebands that are self cleaning.

At the time of the first commercial acceptance of the type casting machines it was recognized that there was a need for a means to adjust the length of line required within reasonable limits and which would act as a separator between words. This means was the original spaceband made of two pieces of wedge-shaped metal, which presented exactly the same spot to the mold during the casting of each line. This repeated exposure to heat and molten metal causes this portion of the spaceband to accumulate some of the type metal as metal or metal oxide. As this accumulation grows, the thin side walls of the brass matrixes are subjected to a build-up of metal and are consequently broken down. This breaking down leaves space for the type metal to jet into, and causes hairlines to appear between the individual letters of each word, soon making the type cast from these damaged matrixes of no value. The present method of cleaning this metal build-up from the spaceband by rubbing it on a pine board on which powdered graphite is placed, occupies much of the time of maintaining the type-casting machines. It is a dirty job which exposes the worker to a cloud of fine graphite which unavoidably gets into his lungs. This graphite settles on everything in a wide area and is a constant nuisance around the composing room.

Our improved, self-cleaning spaceband is made by adding another wedge-shaped piece of metal alongside the short compensating sleeve of the old spaceband. This new piece moves up and down with the long wedge to which it is secured, on the opposite side of the stationary sleeve. This movement presents a diiferent spot to the casting point of the mold each time the spaceband is used, thereby rarely allowing the metal to cast-in the same place twice on the band. This movement also creates a wiping action which makes any accumulation of metal on the spaceband impossible.

It is therefore believed that we have provided a solution to a very perplexing problem that has confronted the printing industry for a long time.

A principal object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a spaceband which will not accumulate metal and one to which metal will not adhere and to cut down considerably on the maintainance time of this particular phase of the type-setting machine, thus eliminating the use of graphite in the composing room which is in itself dirty and a cause of possible health hazards.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved spaceband which will eliminate hairlines in all printed matter and thus overcome a problem which has plagued the printing industry for a long time.

A further object of this invention is to provide an im- 3,127,983 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 "ice proved spaceband which will eliminate matrix sidewall breakdown, the principal cause of hairlines, and thereby save the printing industry considerable expense in the purchase of new matrixes.

A further object is to provide an improved spaceband which will last appreciably longer than the conventional spaceband due to the fact that its various elements have a full bearing on each other and thereby actually acquire the additional strength of the additional built-in elements.

A further object is to build a more substantial spaceband which will hold up longer and since it requires no cleaning there will be no breakdown of the delicate right angle edge of the casting side of the spaceband. This makes for a sharper and more detailed face on the type on the front of the slug.

A further object of this invention is to provide means giving a greater ease of justification of the matrix lines by dividing the spread required between two tapered sleeves instead of one.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the disclosure in the drawings or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of one face of a plurality of matrixes in word group arrangements, showing how they are separated by spacebands. Certain associated parts are not shown as this present application is concerned primarily with the spacebands.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of our spaceband with the same reversed to show the opposite side from that of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 and shown on an enlarged scale.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 4 and on the same enlarged scale.

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIGURE 5 but illustrating a modified form of the second wedge.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line '77 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view on an increased scale, illustrating one preferred step in the making of our improved spaceband.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary view, on an increased scale, illustrating the parallelism of the outer surfaces of our spaceband when in use.

With the hot metal typesetting machine the operator operates the keyboard in much the same way as a typewriter is operated except that each time a key is hit a matrix appears in the line being assembled. A matrix is a rectangular piece of type brass with a female die cut in one edge to correspond with each letter of the alphabet and, as shown in FIGURE 1 at 12, a plurality are always employed to complete a slug or type form. After the operator has assembled enough letters tomake a word, he hits the spaceband lever and a spaceband appears in the line. When he has assembled enough matrixes and spacebands to fill the column of the paper he sends the line into the machine for justification and their bottoms almost in contact with a justification bar which contacts and raises the wedges until the components making up the matrixes and spacebands of one slug are equally spread and the space is filled with the words equally spaced.

Referring to the drawings, throughut which like reference characters indicate like parts, the spaceband, indicated generally by the reference character 20, has a short sleeve member 22, and this sleeve has oppositely directed lugs 24 and 25 which are used to support the spaceband during its use. The sleeve is held in position, within the spaceband assembly, by the guide 26 disposed for reciprocation within the transversely tapered guideway 28. This guideway was previously formed within what was then the only long wedge 30 and hereinafter referred to as the first long wedge. Under our improved principles, a second long wedge 32 is provided which normally is fixedly secured at 34 to wedge 30 so that they are, in effect, one piece, although usually made as two separate pieces joined for convenience in manufacture. In FIGURE 4, in an attempt to clarify the showing, the space between wedges 30 and 32 appear to be considerable at 36. Actually, however, these two members are substantially in contact at this point and are only spread as the long Wedges 3i and 32 are moved upwardly, as is indicated by the dotted line position at 22A in FIGURE 3. Our preferred construction is to provide our added long wedge 32 of thinner stock than wedge 30. However, in use it is actually the combined thickness of the two wedges that determines when they are to be used and it therefore follows that the relative thickness of these two members can be varied to suit conditions of use. In FIGURE 9, the relationship of long wedges 30 and 32 and the short sleeve 22 is indicated. The combined thickness of these three members, as a consequence of their taper, will be the same through the length of the short sleeve 22 in its various locations as determined by the justification adjustment. These equal thicknesses are indicated by lines at 23A and 23B. In FIGURE 6, a modification has been made of our long, added wedge 32 by grinding a shallow center longitudinal groove indicated at 40, the other component parts being similar to those indicated in FIGURE 5.

Our new spaceband, with its additional thin tapered wedge 32, is attached at the front of the old spaceband and this wedge moves up and down in front of the short sleeve 22 with the spreading action thus presenting a different surface to the mold cavity every time a slug is cast. There is an area of approximately three inches in length utilized with this means, in distinction from the former presentation of the same spot each time. There is also in addition, a wiping action in which the lower wedge moves up between the matrixes and discourages any metal build-up on the parts in sliding contact. In this consideration it must be remembered that the short sleeve 22 is the one that it normally positioned by its outstanding lugs 24 and 25 engaging inside fixed parts of the equipment with which these devices are used as shown in FIGURE 2. It therefore follows that any spreading taking place in the justification, or, more simply, the more uniform spreading of the matrixes to fill out the line is all accomplished by the mechanical upward movement of the long wedges 30 and 32 between the matrixes and on each side of the short sleeve 22.

In FIGURE 1 certain parts of Linotype machines are shown in association with our spacebands to show their relationship.

In FIGURE 2, one of our spacebands is shown with certain parts which are common to many Linotype machines. These parts are named in the drawing instead of being numbered.

How T Make the New Self-Cleaning Spaceband The grind of the taper on the front Wedge must be such that it maintains complete parallelism along the 4 entire casting edge of the short sleeve 22 for the entire length of the upward stroke of wedges 30 and 32. As the lower wedges are moved up by the justification bar 21, the short stationary sleeve moves the front wedge out, thus maintaining the parallelism.

The casting edge of the spaceband must be manufactured .001" thicker on the casting side. The vise jaws, J1 and J2 are thicker on the casting side by about .0025". The matrixes are also about .001 thicker on the casting side. All these features added together provide a metaltight seal on the side exposed to the mold cavity.

The four corners of the spaceband must be ground to a true right angle; this presents a square edge to the casting surface and keeps the face of the slug smooth and even.

The two forked outer edges 44 at the top of the second long wedge 32 must be slightly relieved inwardly toward the balance of the spaceband to discourage these sharp points from biting into the upper part of the matrix lying alongside.

In FIGURE 8 we have illustrated one convenient method of spacing the two long wedges 30 and 32 during the time they are being welded together. Pressure is applied by a strut 45 or by a suitable weight used in lieu of strut 45 adjacent to the point of Welding to give a definite set to the new wedge.

The front wedge 32, when fastened at the bottom should be raised slightly, .002" or .003", giving it a tendency to buckle into the spaceband proper, thus retarding a tendency to buckle away from the old spaceband structure.

The new tapered wedge may or may not be relieved at 40 down through the middle to a depth of approximately .002" and in from each side a distance of The old spacebands upper sleeve is relieved in this manner as are the matrixes also; so this is optional with the manufacturer.

The new long wedge 32 may be secured at the bottom by silver soldering or by any other means which will hold it securely. Experience has shown that sliver soldering is quite satisfactory. The silver solder must be confined to an area not to exceed up from the bottom or left end as viewed in FIGURES 4 and 8, of the two wedges 30 and 32. Care must also be taken to keep silver solder from getting into the guideway 28 at the bottom of the wedge 30. On the extreme upward stroke of justification the wedges come up on the guide 26 to within of the base of the wedges. Here the wedges are stopped by a pin or stop 30A in wedge 30. There should be no silver solder in the bottom of the guideway 28 to retard this extreme upward stroke. This stroke occurs frequently on loose lines or those lines which contain insufiicient matrixes to spread to a metal tight seal and there is a safety on the machine which keeps the metal from casting into the mold when this happens. The bifurcation 31 passes through both wedges so that the soldered joint is divided by the slot thus provided.

The tapering of the front wedge 32 adds tensile strength at the base where it is needed and also decreases the ductility here where it isnt needed when the band comes up to a friction tight hearing.

The surfaces which rub together between the short sleeve 22 and the long wedge 30 must be highly polished to keep rough particles of metal from rolling up into small minute balls and freezing the sliding action of the spaceband here. In fact the entire spaceband itself must be highly polished but particularly in the area previously mentioned.

The metallurgical aspects of the spacebands are such that they should be made of a tough, close-grained, resilient type of steel comparable to Swedish steel, since after the slugs are cast it is desirable that they fall back down of their own weight to the original position. Although there is provision made on the machine to force them down prior to transfer, it is desirable that they do this of their own accord.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of self-cleaning spaceband for type casting machines.

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. A self cleaning spaceband for hot metal type setting machines, comprising:

(1) a first long wedge having an outer surface and an inner surface, said inner surface being tapered with respect to said outer surface and said wedge having a beveled edge guideway extending substantially the length of said wedge;

(2) a wedge-shaped short sleeve member having a beveled edge guide mounted for longitudinal recipro cation within said guideway, said sleeve member hav* ing oppositely directed outstanding supporting lugs and said sleeve having opposed tapered surfaces;

(3) a second long wedge, thinner than said first long wedge and having an outer and an inner surface, said inner surface of said second long Wedge being ta pered with respect to said outer surface and facing said inner surface of said first long wedge in sliding contact with said sleeve, said second long wedge being unconnected with said sleeve and free of said first long wedge except at the thick end thereof, the thick end of said second long wedge being fixedly secured to the thick end of said first long wedge with said thick ends being spaced apart at their point of securement to receive the lower end of said sleeve and said long wedges being positioned by said securement to slant toward one another; and

(4) the tapered surfaces of said sleeve being integrated with the tapers of said long wedges so that said outersurfaces of said long wedges will be parallel throughout that portion of their length contacted by said sleeve despite their lack of parallelity when said sleeve is positioned at a higher level.

2. A self cleaning spaceband as recited in claim 1 in which said thick ends are fixedly secured in spaced apart relation by means of a silver solder spacer.

3. A spaceband for hot metal type setting machines, comprising:

(1) a first long wedge means having an outer surface and inner surface uniformly upwardly tapered with respect to said outer surface, said wedge means having a beveled edge guideway extending along substantially the entire length of said first wedge means;

(2) a wedge-shaped sleeve member of substantially shorter length than said first wedge means and having a first tapered surface complementary to said tapered inner surface of said first wedge means, said sleeve member also having a second tapered surface of different taper than and opposed to said first tapered surface, both of said first and second tapered surfaces tapering from the top to the bottom of said sleeve member, said sleeve member having a beveled guide edge to coact with said guideway for sliding longitudinal movement in said guideway, said sleeve member having oppositely directed outstanding supporting lugs;

(3) a second long wedge means, thinner than said first long wedge means, and having an external surface and internal surface uniformly upwardly tapered with respect to said external surface, the taper of the inner surface of said first wedge means being greater than the taper of the internal surface of said second wedge means, the second tapered surface of said sleeve member being complementary to the taper of the internal surface of said second wedge means, said first and second wedge means together with said sleeve member defining a parallel relationship between said outer and external surfaces of said first and second wedge means along the entire length of said sleeve member for any location of said wedge upon said sleeve member;

(4) said first and second wedge means being fixedly connected in slightly spaced-apart relationship at their lower thick ends.

4. The spaceband according to the structure of claim 3 and in which the upper end of said first wedge means is spaced slightly above the upper end of said second wedge means for protection of said second wedge means.

5. The spaceband according to the structure of claim 3 and in which the thickness of said second wedge means at its lower end is sutficient to prevent buckling of said second wedge means at any point near where it is fixedly connected to said first wedge means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 554,790 Phelps Feb. 18, 1896 669,831 Hensley Mar. 12, 1901 1,046,468 Kent Dec. 10, 1912 1,626,003 Lobit Apr. 26, 1927 

1. A SELF CLEANING SPACEBAND FOR HOT METAL TYPE SETTING MACHINES, COMPRISING: (1) A FIRST LONG WEDGE HAVING AN OUTER SURFACE AND AN INNER SURFACE, SAID INNER SURFACE BEING TAPERED WITH RESPECT TO SAID OUTER SURFACE AND SAID WEDGE HAVING A BEVELED EDGE GUIDEWAY EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE LENGTH OF SAID WEDGE; (2) A WEDGE-SHAPED SHORT SLEEVE MEMBER HAVING A BEVELED EDGE GUIDE MOUNTED FOR LONGITUDINAL RECIPROCATION WITHIN SAID GUIDEWAY, SAID SLEEVE MEMBER HAVING OPPOSITELY DIRECTED OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING LUGS AND SAID SLEEVE HAVING OPPOSED TAPERED SURFACES; 